PARRY SOUND—A contingent from the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands, among other Island municipalities, recently attended the annual general meeting of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) and were among the very few who voted against a motion approving a suggested hike to the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) of one percent.
Resolution 2018-03 was among a spate of resolutions voted on at the AGM which reads:
“Whereas the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) has led the call to action for a one percent increase in the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) that would be dedicated to municipal infrastructure; and whereas projections have indicated that for the next 10 years there is an average annual need of $4.9 billion to fix local infrastructure and provide for municipal operating needs; and whereas this gap assumes all existing and multi-year planned federal and provincial transfers to municipal governments will be fulfilled and maintained at current levels; and whereas municipal governments have limited authority in their ability to reduce the cost of delivering municipal services and financing infrastructure projects; and whereas a one percent increase to the provincial portion of the HST, adjusted for low income rebates, would result in about $2.5 billion in new revenue that would be distributed equitably to help every municipal government in Ontario fund their infrastructure and services with greater predictability; and therefore be it resolved that FONOM supports a one percent increase to the HST that would be dedicated to municipal infrastructure.”
Northeast Town Mayor Al MacNevin told The Expositor that FONOM was ready to pass the motion without a vote and that he had to request a vote on the tax hike.
“This (resolution), for a while now, they’ve been pumping it up,” Mayor MacNevin said of AMO.
The mayor said AMO had been holding sessions on the tax hike across the province, and he attended the one in Sudbury this winter.
“So far, all three parties are not in favour,” Mayor MacNevin said, “and I don’t want to go on record with my constituents that I support a one percent tax increase.”
“Sharing the sales tax (with municipalities) is one thing, but increasing it is another,” he added. “Thirteen percent seems high enough.”
The resolution was carried, without the support of the Northeast Town.
